Baby pants and pad



May 13, 1941. M. A. POTWIN BABY PANTS AND PAD Filed Oct. 29, 1937 \00oOoOOooooooOo O o 0 O O O O 0 O 0'- O O O O 0 some 0000 Oce 0 oo oooooooeocoi a one o 000 oo oo on on 000 000 o flfiocoooo o 0 O O 0 O Q o O O 0 Patented May 13, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BABY PANTS AND PAD Marjorie A. Potwln, Spartanburg, 'S. 0.

Application October 29, 1937, Serial No. 171,797

4 Claims.

separable and each being made of readily dis posable material.

The pad in general consists of readily disposable absorbent material which may be preferably one of the cellulosic materials of fluffy characteristics so as to be soft and readily conformable to the body of the infant. Preferably about, this pad is a wrapper of more or less impervious mate'rial comprising a portion which is perforated or otherwise formed or arranged to readily allow transmission of liquids and moisture. The more or less impervious wrapper may preferably be of paper which is of a soft non-abrasive character which will readily enclose the pad and conform thereto 'and also conform to the body of the infant. The perforated or pervlous portion of the wrapper is intended to be placed directly in contact with the body of the infant and the impervious portions of the wrapper are arranged to overlie the outer surface of the pad and may come directly in contact with the impervious baby pants.

When desired the pad may be especially shaped and formed to properly cooperate in a specific way with a specific form of baby pants.

The preferred form of baby pants comprises a more or less flat sheet of some such material as a rubberized cloth or oiled silk or the like which is preferably thin, soft and flexible. This is preferably shaped to pass through the crotch of the infant and extend upward at both front and back and is provided with fasteners of any suitable kind. Snap fasteners may be preferred. The

fasteners are preferably so arranged on the baby pants that no portion of .the fasteners themselves comes in contact with the skin of the infant. For

instance one part of the fastener may be placed outside of one member of the baby pants while the other part of the fastener is placed on the 'inside of the baby pants, which latter member may overlap the other member when adjusted on the infant. v

The pad may preferably be shaped to approxi mately the shape of the baby pants. The pad may be perforated or otherwise provided with fastening means which engage one or more of the fastening members of the baby pants by which means the pad may be held more or less smoothly in position on the infant when the baby pants are properly adjusted.

When in adjusted position the pad will pass through the crotch of the infant and up both the front and back of the infant toward the waist. The more or less impervious wrapper preferably will be wrapped longitudinally on the pad so that when adjusted and in position the top edge of the absorbent portion of the pad at both front and back will be enclosed and more or less covered by the impervious cover so that it will not fray, ravel or break and will be covered against picking by the infant. The exposed sides of the pad may be sufficiently protected by the pants.

In the accompanying drawing a preferred form of the invention is illustrated. Figure 1 is a plan view of a pad in position on baby pants ready for application. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the pants and pad in position when applied, one side being shown open to better illustrate the invention. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a pad on the line 3'-3 of,Fig...1. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is a plan view on a reduced scale and in expanded form of an impervious wrapper for the pad.

The baby pants comprise a back portion I ll having fastening members Ii and i2 on the in? side of the upper or belt edge l3. There is a front portion i4 likewise provided with fastening members, i5. i6, ll and I8 on the outside of the upper or belt edge l9. When in position on the infant the fastening member ii may engage either the fastening member IE or the fastening member i6 and likewise the fastening member i2 may engage either the fastening member I! or the fastening member I8, thus providing for proper adjustment .varying with the size of the infant. Additional or modified waistline adjustment may be employed. The central portion of the baby pants is provided with edges 20 and 2i. The portions at 20 and 2i may be elastic and are shaped to engage the limbs of the infant as indicated in Fig. 2, being shown as curved in the present instance although they may be bounded by straight lines when desired. Fastening members 22 and 23 on the outer portion of the front portion H are engaged by fastening members 24 and 25 on the inner portion of the rear member i 0 to hold the pants adjusted and form the edge 20 into a ,limb encircling band as indicated in as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2. Likewise fastening members 26 and 21 on the outer portion of the front member l4 are engaged by fastening members 28 and 29 on the inside of the rear member I to close the pants and form the edge 2| into a limb encircling ring as indicated in Fig. 2. To make the closures more sturdy and certain flaps 30 and 3|, triangularly shaped in the present instance. are formed on the rear portion I0 and provided with fastening members 32 and 33 which engage fastening members 34 and 35 on the outside of the front member [4 so as to hold the flaps 30 and 3| closed over the openings at the sides of the baby pants immediately above the limbs of the infant. The number and location and character of fastening members may be varied and the arrangement illustrated and described need not be followed. The pants may be. made of several pieces fastened together or may be cut from a single piece of material. Any suitable material may be used for this purpose, oiled silk being preferred.

The pad may consist of an outer wrapper member as shown in Fig. 5 which may surround an innerpad member as illustrated in Fig. 3. The wrapper member may consist of impervious material, it being preferred, in the present instance, to employ paper which while impervious to moisture is readily deformable and readily disposable th'rough the usual toilet facilities and at the same time is sturdy enough to normally be smooth and unwrinkled and soft enough to avoid scratching, chafing or irritation of any sort. A paper should preferably be employed which is insoluble and non-disintegrating in water. Over a long period of time the paper is not entirely non-absorbent nor altogether absolutely impervious. Used for .a shorter period, such as the present purpose requires it is practically nonabsorbent and impervious; at least it is highly deterrent and resistant to the passage of water. This is important and its retention of its integrity for the period of its normal use is an im portant consideration. The term impervious is employed herein to describe paper having these characteristics. Preferably the wrapper may consist of three portions, the absorbent portion of the pad being placed on the central portion and the ends of the wrapper being folded over on to the pad so as to overlie each other. The wrapper may, if desired, be suitably formed to more or less follow the general outlines of the baby pants. Thus as illustrated in Fig. 5 the wrapper member may consist of a central portion 36 which is formed more or less to correspond with the central portion of the baby pants On each side of the central portion 36 are end portions 31 and 38 correspondingly formed so that when they 'are folded over upon each other and upon the pad they will be in substantially the same outline shape as the central portion 36. The central portion 36 may be made to pass moisture by being perforated, or in any other suitable way, throughout all or a portion of its area. In the drawing holes or perforations 39 are illustrated. The shape, location and number of perforations may be varied within wide limits.

Loosely laid upon the central portion 36 of the wrapper and covering more or less its entire area'is the absorbent portion of the pad which may consist of layers or a fiuify mass of cellulosic material. When desired certain portions of this pad may be made thicker than the other portions, for instance that portion lying'directly within the crotch when in adjusted position.

Ordinarily the baby pants will be made to extend higher on the body of the infant than the absorbent pad and the pad, in length, may therefore be less than the length of the baby pants as indicated in Fig. 1. When this construction is not followed, or sometimes in spite of this construction, there may be a tendency on the part of the infant to pick or fray the upper edge of the absorbent pad and this is effectively avoided in the present instance by having the upper edge both front and back of the absorbent pad covered with the folds of the more or less tough, non-absorbent cover between the portions 36 and 31 and the portions 36 and 38. This leaves the sides of the pad free and exposed but as willrbe later explained the sides are more or less held, enclosed and protected by the babypants.

The wrapper made up of the portions 36, 31 and 38 is relatively tough andnot easily torn. It may remain smooth and retain its position and integrity but it may be preferable to have the wrapper or both wrapper and absorbent part of the pad directly attached to the baby pants to insure the pad always being extended smooth and in proper position. Provision may be made for attaching it to the baby pants in-such a way that it may be properly held in association therewith. To this end the rear portion of the pad may be perforated as at 40 and 4| to rest over or engage the fastening members 24 and 25. Likewise perforations 42 and 43 may be provided in the pad to engage the fastening members 26 and 29 respectively. Similarly at the other end of the pad may be provided fastening means such as' perforations 44 and 45 to engage the fastening members 25 and 29 respectively. When the pad is thus adjusted over the fastening members 25,

24, 29 and 28 they may be brought into engagement with their associated fastening members 23, 22, 21 and 26 respectively and so by a single set of fastening means the baby pants and the pad both held in proper associated, smooth, comfortable position. In doing this as indicated in Fig. 2 the pad itself will in part be turned to overlie itself thus insuring a tight and more secure fastening. The flaps 30 and 3| tend to cover and seal the lines of connection and attachment. It will be understood that preferably the perforations or other fastening means 46, 4|, 42, 43, 44 and 4-5 will extend through not merely the wrapper but also through the absorbent material itself of the pad and, especially when this is in sheets or layers, such arrangement will tend to maintain a smooth, well distributed arrangement.

The perforated or pervious portion of the paper sheet 36 coming in contact with the body of the infant will allow liouids to pass through to the absorbent portion 46 of the pad by which they maybe absorbed and distributed. The overlying members 31 and 38'being impervious may prevent liquids from passing beyond the absorbent portion 46 and will thus tend to keep the baby pants themselves clean and unsoiled.

When soiled or after use the portions are readily detachable. leased by their fastening means and the pad as a whole may be removable. The portions of the pad themselves are not fastened together and readily separate for independent disposal. The pad may thus, for instance, be lifted by the end or edge of one of the members 31 or 38 and the absorbent portion 46 be easily separated and disposed of in the toilet bowl. Thereafter the wrapper itself and separately may be readily dis- Thus the baby pants may be reposed of in the toilet bowl. There is thus no need for manipulation or cutting or derangement such as is needed with those devices which employ gauze as casing or reinforcement as has been customary heretofore. Th gauze. or other material made of threads or strands of cotton is not ordinarily readily disposable and, especially in the size necessary for a baby pad, would materially interfere with the toilet fittings if put therein. It will be noted that the pad of the present invention is made up entirely of readily disposable materials while at the same time it answers all the. purposes of other similar pads which contain elements which are not readily disposable.

The end members 31 and 38 of the wrapper are illustrated as corresponding. in size and shape with the central portion 36. This may be a preferred construction and arrangement but obviously is not essential as the members 31 and 38,

either or both, 'might be shorter or narrower or both and need not be of the specific shape of the central portion 36.

The pad has been illustrated and: described speciflcally for use in connection with an infant or as associated with baby pants. The pad, however, may be useful for other sanitary purposes where it may be possible to employ a pad made of absorbent material cased in a wrapper of more or less thin, impervious paper perforated or made pervious on one side which is to be brought directly into contact with the human body without the intervention or interposition of gauze or any other material, although gauze or other materials whether waterproof or not may be employed, to support the pad and hold it in position for use.

The matter illustrated in the drawing is not presented as a limitation of the invention which may be in part or in whole embodied in various other structures or devices. 7

I claim as my invention:

1. Baby pants comprising an impervious sheet imperforate end members overlying each other on the side of the padagainst the sheet and an intermediate perforate member against the side of the pad away from the sheet and adapted to be placed in contact with the skin of the baby, the assembled pad and cover being provided with holes through which at least some of the fastening members pass to hold it in place, the cover being folded so as to enclose the upper edges of the pad at both front and back when held by the pants.

2. Baby pants comprising an impervious sheet shaped to pass through the crotch and up the front and back of the baby, fastening members at the top and along the sides of the pants, a pad of absorbent readily disposable substance shaped to correspond to the crotch portion and at least a portion of the front and back portions, and an impervious readily disposable paper cover for the pad correspondingly shaped and comprising two imperforate end members on the side of the pad against the sheet and an intermediate perforate member against the side of the pad away from the sheet and adapted to be placed in contact with the skin of the baby, the assembled pad and cover being provided with holes through which at least some of the fastening members pass to hold it in place.

3. A garment of the character described comprising a body portion having part of its opposite edges curved inwardly and also having endwise extending portions to embrace the body of a wearer of the garment, the inwardly curved portions surrounding the legs of the wearer when the body portion is folded .on a transverse line through the curved portions, a readily detachable pad adapted to lie upon the inner face of the body portion comprising absorbent material and a cover therefor of paper the cover comprising a'central perforated portion and imperforate end members foldable over the absorbent material on one side so as to hold the absorbent material' against the perforated portions and to close the edges of the pad at the top of the front and. back when in position on the wearer, the front and back portions of the body portion extending above the pad and fastened together about the body of the wearer at such extending portions, the pad having curved edges substantially coinciding with the curved portions of the body portion, perforations through the edges of the pad and means carried by one extending portion of the body portion by which the pad is held and fastened about the body of the wearer and sidewise extensions on the last mentioned -extending portion adapted to extend over and be fastened to the other extending portion of the body portion and so cover the opening at the edges of the body portion when in position on the wearer.

4. For use with baby pants comprising an impervious sheet shaped to pass through the crotch and up the front and back of the baby and having fastening members at the top and along the a sides of the pants, a pad of absorbent readily disposable substance shaped to correspond to the crotch portion and at least a portion of the front and back portions of the pants and an impervious readily disposable paper cover for the pad correspondingly shaped and comprising two imperforate end members overlying each other on the side of the pad against the'sheet and an intermediate perforate member against the side of the padaway from the sheet and adapted to be placed in contact. with the skin of the baby, the

assembled pad and cover being provided with holes through which at least some of the fasten: ing members pass to hold it in place, the cover being folded so as to enclose the upper edges of the pad at both front and back when held by the pants.

MARJORIE A. POTWIN. 

